Valverde seizes lead at Dauphine

Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) rode the time trial of his career to beat the likes of Levi Leipheimer and Cadel Evans on a difficult, hilly 31km course Wednesday to win the stage and take control of the 60th Dauphiné Libéré.

Valverde, who also won Monday’s first stage in a sprint, revealed impressive time trial credentials on wet roads to beat 2006 Dauphiné champ Leipheimer by 19 seconds and Tour de France runner-up Evans by 20 seconds.

The sun broke out just in time for Spain’s “Balaverde” to don the maillot jaune (along with the points and climber’s jerseys as well) just as the Dauphiné turns into the mountains Thursday for four decisive climbing stages.

Valverde now holds a 23-second lead to Leipheimer, with Evans slotting into third at 37 seconds in arrears. Mikel Astarloza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) is fourth at 1:17 off the pace with Maxime Monfort (Cofidis) in fifth at 1:20 back.

Valverde said a pre-stage look at what lay ahead had given him a boost.

“When Oscar Pereiro and I went out to have a look in the morning we were surprised by the difficulty of the course,” said Valverde, who recently won the prestigious Liege-Bastogne-Liege classic for the second time in his career. “I saw straight away it suited me well. The first 20km were really climbing, followed by a really technical descent.”

Evans (Silence-Lotto) posted an early best time among the GC favorites with 45:19.95, but Leipheimer caught his two-minute man, George Hincapie (High Road), just before the flame rouge with 1km to go.

Dauphiné Libéré, 2008, Stage 3 – Evans takes third, one second off of Leipheimer’s time

Leipheimer ? who won Sunday’s opening prologue to wear the maillot jaune for one day before losing it on time bonuses in Monday’s sprint finish ? pipped Evans by barely one second, stopping the clock in 45:18.40.

But it wasn’t going to be enough. Valverde ripped the hilly course to post arguably his best time trial of his career, becoming the only rider to finish under 45 minutes with a time of 44:58.79 (41.34kph).

Overnight leader Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) coasted across the line 98th at 49:55 to concede more than five minutes to Valverde, who now takes control of the GC heading into a string of decisive climbing stages.

“I’ve felt great since the start of the race and I think I’m really on the right path as far as preparations for the Tour are concerned,” Valverde said. “We’ll be going out to defend the yellow jersey here, but it won’t be easy.”

Wednesday’s course and weather presented a Tour-worthy challenge. Rain made the already technically challenging 31km course starting and finishing in St-Paul-en-Jarez even trickier.

Showers had stopped by the time most of the GC favorites headed out on the hilly, narrow course, but roads were wet throughout the strenuous race against the clock.

The course hit the Cat. 3 Cote de Chavanol at 12.2km, quickly followed by the Cat. 4 Cote de Dolzieux at 19km. And there was barely a flat stretch in between as the road dipped and rolled into the hills.

The 60th Dauphiné continues Thursday with the 193km fourth stage from Vienne to Annemasse. The day’s main obstacle is the Cat. 1 Le Saliève climb, peaking at 1,300 meters with 18km to go to Annemasse. After a long downhill, the stage finishes with another hilltop sprint that could ideally suit none other than Valverde.